CTX Battery question

[MARK (LI)]

What kind of battery usage are you guys getting from a charge?...I had it fully charged on Sunday and hunted for about 3 hours....went back out yesterday for almost 4 hours.....from experience I expected at least a few more hours, but when I turned it on today, it went righ back off....I tried a few times and came home...charged the battery for about a half hour and stuck it in the machine and it seems normal again...I thought that it was supposed to last at least 12 hours or so....any comments?...thanks for any responses...Mark

 

[MI-AuAg]

How old is the battery MARK?

I can't help as far as total hours from full charge to discharged, I have never had it go too low to function.

I have used my battery for two years, since I bought the CTX new. I generally put my battery and wireless module on charge after each use, averaging 3-5 hrs, with a high of 7 consecutive hrs. of use. I have experienced no problems of early discharge at this point. Your particular type of use may be a factor, such as external speaker use, backlight, etc. Seven hours does seem too soon for it to be discharged to that level.

 

[trojdor]

Mark,
Yes, the battery life is listed as "up to 13 hrs" depending on what you've got turned on.
10 hrs is far more typical, especially if you use in throughout the week/month.

If you're memory is accurate, then 7 hours run time in the same week seems low to me.

Additionally, if you were able to get a full charge from a dead battery in 30 minutes, then you've got an issue.
It should take between 2 and 4 hours to completely charge a fully discharged battery.

If you're just in the habit of partial charging the battery for 30 minutes at a time...that's not good for the battery. It will eventually lose capacity by doing this.

You can theoretically charge a LiON battery when it's at any discharge level...but you should always give it a complete charge.
(Multiple cell battery packs just don't like partial charges...it unbalances the pack voltage.)

Good luck,
mike

 

[Digger]

There are several factors that can affect how long the battery pack holds up. I use headphones, which take less power to produce an audio response than the speaker. I don't typically use the back light, as it can reduce the battery life by +/- 8%. I turn off the GPS unless I am on a special project or at a location I am not familiar with. I turn off the detector when I take a break. The only thing that I refuse to do (to save some power) is that I do use the Wireless module. It requires more power from the detector than simply plugging your headphones into the detector. But the "freedom" it allows me is well worth the trade off. Long story short......10 hours would be average for places I hunt and the settings I use. If I fully charge my batteries each day after a hunt, I am confident I won't run out of juice the next day. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Eyeage]

Does anyone know if there is an extended-life battery available for the ctx? Similar to my RNB red for my etrac (that thing goes for weeks).

 

[glenn3-88]

Mark,
Didn't you get an empty battery pack to use AA batteries in. If so, buy 8 Eneloop batteries made by
either Panasonic or Sanyo. I have never had an issue with batteries getting low and I use my GPS,
WM10, and back light continously. Any lithium ion battery can be charged at any point but it is not
good to take them off charge until they are fully charged. I recently bought a MAHA charger and it
came with 8 2700mah batteries. The model# is MH-C800S. It has the ability to make a soft (slow)
charge, it can make a fast charge, and it also has the ability to drain the batteries down to an almost
dead level and rejuvenate the batteries with a slow charge. The slow charge takes about 4 hours.
The fast charge takes about 2 hours, and the reconditioning cycle can take as much as 16 hours.
The reason I bought it is I had some old Ray-O-Vac I bought many years ago and tried the rejuvenation
procedure on them. I have now had them out for 3 two hour hunts and have plenty of power left. It will
charge 1 battery or how ever many you want to charge up to 8 at one time. However, regardless of the
charger, do yourself a favor and get the Eneloops. They are expensive but well worth it. A fully charged
battery will hold 85% of it's power for a period of 5 years on the shelf, "guaranteed". Sanyo first made
them overseas somewhere but has recently sold out to Panasonic in Columbus, Ga. I believe. I really
don't hunt but about 2 to 3 hours at a time but I hunt every day and I recently took them out to re-charge
them after having used them for my 3rd week just to try out this new charger. They did not need to be
replaced. A less expensive rechargeable battery is the Ray-O-Vac Plus that is even better than the
rechargeable Duracells. However, the plain rechargeable Ray-O-Vacs ain't much to them.
You should have received an empty battery pack with that detector that looks exactly like the rechargeable
battery pack.

 

[Jeff In North Georgia]

Does anyone know if there is an extended-life battery available for the ctx? Similar to my RNB red for my etrac (that thing goes for weeks).

No after market ones that I've seen but the GPX 7000 battery has twice the rated capacity, same voltage (and is physically larger). Have no idea what it cost, maybe one of the dealer can chime in on that.

Jeff

 

[MARK (LI)]

Thanks for your input...appreciated...I found a backup one

 

[Eyeage]

Im surprised there isn't much of an aftermarket for the ctx. It's gaining ownership. Hopefully we'll soon see some players entering the game.

 

[CopyTech99]

Great idea on the NIMH in the extra pack. Love those cells.

 

[Jeff In North Georgia]

Im surprised there isn't much of an aftermarket for the ctx. It's gaining ownership. Hopefully we'll soon see some players entering the game.

Think that this is because the current batteries are pretty good and last a long time.

Also the CTX3030 battery pod compartment is a unique shape / design. Most likely it would be very expensive for someone to build their own version unless they were able to take the alkaline battery pod and modify it for different batteries and a charger.

Jeff

 

[amberjack]

have a read of this might help a bit ?


http://www.findmall.com/read.php?86,2172718

AJ

 

[Delta Digger]

Mark,
Didn't you get an empty battery pack to use AA batteries in. If so, buy 8 Eneloop batteries made by
either Panasonic or Sanyo. I have never had an issue with batteries getting low and I use my GPS,
WM10, and back light continously. Any lithium ion battery can be charged at any point but it is not
good to take them off charge until they are fully charged. I recently bought a MAHA charger and it
came with 8 2700mah batteries. The model# is MH-C800S. It has the ability to make a soft (slow)
charge, it can make a fast charge, and it also has the ability to drain the batteries down to an almost
dead level and rejuvenate the batteries with a slow charge. The slow charge takes about 4 hours.
The fast charge takes about 2 hours, and the reconditioning cycle can take as much as 16 hours.
The reason I bought it is I had some old Ray-O-Vac I bought many years ago and tried the rejuvenation
procedure on them. I have now had them out for 3 two hour hunts and have plenty of power left. It will
charge 1 battery or how ever many you want to charge up to 8 at one time. However, regardless of the
charger, do yourself a favor and get the Eneloops. They are expensive but well worth it. A fully charged
battery will hold 85% of it's power for a period of 5 years on the shelf, "guaranteed". Sanyo first made
them overseas somewhere but has recently sold out to Panasonic in Columbus, Ga. I believe. I really
don't hunt but about 2 to 3 hours at a time but I hunt every day and I recently took them out to re-charge
them after having used them for my 3rd week just to try out this new charger. They did not need to be
replaced. A less expensive rechargeable battery is the Ray-O-Vac Plus that is even better than the
rechargeable Duracells. However, the plain rechargeable Ray-O-Vacs ain't much to them.
You should have received an empty battery pack with that detector that looks exactly like the rechargeable
battery pack.

I have the same set up as you. Going 4 years and not one problem with the charger or battery's.